This is the story of my cycling adventures abroad together with records of training and preparation. The second and most recent ride will hopefully commence on 28th May 2013. The first took place between April 10th and May 26th 2012.
It all starts at the bottom, the Blog that is. Scroll down for recent posts and click for even "Older Posts".

Friday, 6 January 2012

Shakedown

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Monday. Where does the time go?

The weather has been particularly poor and my knees are still playing up so I have enjoyed the rest and have managed to make arrangements for a couple of trial rides over the next few weeks. I think a trial run is called a Shakedown in the Navy but I don't understand why sailors would need to go on a bike ride. I'm a bit disappointed that the camping stuff I ordered hasn't arrived yet but there is a week to go. The first ride will be next Friday, the 13th, and this will be the same as Stage 1 to Denby Dale where I hope to camp in Steve and Maggie's back garden and try out the gear. That will be a laugh, if I get there in one piece, that is. I looked at the route elevation and noticed that there is a bit of trouble at Saddleworth, 300m climb in 5km. I may just have another look at that! A couple of weeks later I'm off to Guiseley to stay at Phil's. This is a longer ride but with slightly easier gradients. It's got to be done. If these go OK I will feel I can tackle anything over on my carefully chosen wimp route over there on the mainland.

The wind was horrendous on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but it relented just a bit on Thursday afternoon so I nipped to Billinge to see Marg and Keith. Sean was over from Turkey and in the area visiting them so it was a good excuse to do a different route. I came home the long way and it added up to about 14 miles. A few excellent beers were supped at last night's session which was quiet by recent standards obviously because of the post-christmas financial vacuum and all the lightweights are just probably fed up with going out. Not us lads though. No-o-o-o.

I went to see my chiropractor in Longton this morning and she gave me some excellent advice about my knees which I have already put into practice, so we'll see how that works out. I go and see her every three months and she keeps my back straight. I did have some serious problems in that region a while ago, no - not Longton, and she sorted me out. She's a toughie and she wouldn't allow me to ride today because of my treatment so I've just had to sit around all day. Just love that lady.